News In Brief

ByRobert Kilborn Judy Nichols, and Joshua S. BurekMay 24, 2000

A US District judge planned to overturn $143 million in damages against Pfizer Inc., citing ethical lapses by attorneys for British-based Trovan Ltd., which had sued the pharmaceutical giant. In Los Angeles, Judge Lourdes Baird said the plaintiff's lawyers used fraudulent evidence and encouraged witnesses to lie. Trovan, a medical electronics company, had challenged Pfizer's use of its name for an antibiotic introduced in 1998. The financial damages, the largest US trademark infringement verdict to date, were decided by a jury last year.

Global Crossing Ltd. said it is seeking damage compensation of more than $1 billion from a Tyco International Ltd unit. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, Global Crossing claimed Tyco had agreed to help build an undersea fiber-optic network around South America, then misappropriated those plans to invest in a competing venture, The Wall Street Journal reported. The paper said Tyco, which is managed from Exeter, N.H., had been the key supplier for Hamilton, Bermuda-based Global Crossing.